Page 56 of Wicked Duty
I switch on the lamp, but Lucy doesn’t wake.
Sweat dampens her face, and her expression scrunches up with fear and pain. “No…” Tears drip from her closed eyes. “Please,no.”
Her pleading splinters my heart. What the fuck is tormenting her? Whatever mental hellscape she’s trapped in ends now.
I reach for her shoulders and gently shake. “Lucy, wake up.”
Her eyes fly open. “No!” Her hands rise defensively to her face.
“Marlow, calm down.” Christ, she’s shaking. “It’s okay. It’s just me. You’re safe.”
Slowly, very slowly, Lucy lowers her arms and blinks. “C-Callum? What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” I sit next to her on the bed. “You were having a nightmare. You screamed. I heard you from the other room. Thought someone might be in here, hurting you.”
She shrinks against the mattress, ducking her head in a very un-Lucy-like manner. Not confrontational or brash whatsoever.
“Sorry,” she whispers.
“Don’t apologize.” My voice is way too harsh. Why do I sound so upset with her? My nerves must still be recovering. “What were you dreaming about?”
She shakes her head, fresh tears clinging to her lashes.
Shit. I shouldn’t have asked.
Standing up, I reach for her lamp. “Go back to sleep.”
She grabs my forearm to stop me. I meet her frightened gaze. Trembling still, she retracts her hands, tucking them beneath the covers.
I hate seeing her this afraid. The sight triggers a desperate compulsion to slay her demons for her. The fact that she doesn’t trust me enough to tell me about them is a kick in the gut, but I can’t blame her. I earned her mistrust.
I’m about to leave when her soft voice freezes me in my tracks. “Callum…could you stay with me until I fall asleep?”
I answer without thinking. “Of course.”
For a second, we just gaze at each other in stunned silence. Then she rolls onto her left side, facing away from me.
I sit on the bed. She asked me to stay…now what? I can’t exactly crawl under the covers and spoon her until she drifts off to sleep, but if I get up and cross the room to the armchair in the corner, will my presence still comfort her? Watching her from afar isn’t the same as staying with her.
“Thank you.” Her words are so soft, I almost miss them.
They stab me straight in my chest and cement me in place.
Guess that’s it. Nothing short of an armed invasion could pull me away.
I’ll stay right here until she returns to dreamland.
Seconds stretch into minutes with neither of us uttering a peep. It’s quiet. Too quiet. I’m so used to arguing with her that all this silence throws me for a loop.
Lucy fusses with the covers, yanking them up to her armpits.
I glance at the lamp. “Do you want me to turn off the light?”
She stills. “No. Please don’t.” She releases a slow breath, irritation clear in her voice. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t sleep anyway.”
“Because of the nightmare?”
She rolls onto her back and blinks up at me. “I can’t sleep with you in here.”
